READY TO GET BACK TO WORK!
(HOSPITAL BLOG)
Hello everyone!,
There are not enough words to thank everyone who has sent kind words, thoughts/prayers, and positive vibes my way from companies to my friends/viewers here on Just A Country Gal. As many of you know I have Chronic Myeloid Leukemia which has landed me in and out of the hospital. I have gone through some rough times in the past 5-6 months. I've dealt with anemia, mini-strokes, and horrible pain from my chemotherapy. My chemo has been very taxing on my body. I became very weak months back and ended up in the hospital attached to IV's and having meds given to me left and right. I could barely walk or lift my head. I don't want to go into everything that's happened in there because it was very scary for me. I literally thought I was going to die. I'm not one to complain a lot and I try my best to fight. I try to put off my illness's as much as possible because well I absolutely HATE the hospital. I don't want to go if I don't have to. It's safe to say that most people are in the same boat as me and hate the hospital as well.
I've been in severe depression in these past couple of months not only because of everything that's happened in and out of the hospital. My chemo has had some very bad side effects and one of those is tooth decay. While I was in the hospital my teeth became much, much worse. I went from having perfect zero cavity teeth to my teeth becoming incredibly bad and dealing with intense pain. The Dr's tried everything they could to save my teeth, but unfortunately I have to have all of them removed. A lot of people are embarrassed to talk about these types of things when it comes to cancer and what chemotherapy does to you, but this was one topic I had to get off my chest. I've been crying everyday over this. The pain has been unbearable. I have to go soon and have all of my teeth cut out and be fit for dentures. I'm 28 years old and I'll now be a denture wearer. I now know it's nothing to be ashamed of, but it's been a hard thing to deal with. I know a lot of people are embarrassed as well when these things happen to them because they're afraid of what people might think of them. That was my position too. I was worried that people would look at me and think "She must be on drugs.. look at her teeth!". That was my fear of what people would think. I wish that you could look at a person and know their struggles with health so that in this society people wouldn't judge you.
With that being said Id like to take this opportunity to talk to you about Chronic Myeloid Leukemia struggles and what you can do to help me out. There are so many Cancer diagnosis's out there right now and it's sad. There are people that are worse off than me. There are people that need help. As for some of the things I've mentioned above you can see what chemo and my cancer does to me.. imagine what others go through. My Grandpa had Prostate and Bladder cancer and he was my rock. He died 5 years ago and it was one of the hardest times of my life. The struggles I've seen him go through was far worse than my struggles. He was always there for me when I was at Dr's appointments, surgeries, and whatever my problems were.. he was there to hold my hand/give me a BIG hug. I know a lot of my viewers out there have people in their lives who have/had cancer or maybe they themselves are dealing with cancer. There are so many things you can do for cancer patients. You could donate, volunteer, spend some time with them while they're doing chemo treatments, do marathons, do walks, ext. If you have the feeling that you want to help please do research on what you can do to help my fellow survivors/fighters out. I will post some links of things you can research and do to help. I would like to talk about what you could do specifically for my cancer CML among other Leukemia diagnosis's. You can be tested and join "Be The Match". You may be asking.. "What's That?". (Be The Match) has been around for a while now and it is a program that is completely FREE. Everything from shipping to the kit is FREE. They will send you a kit that contains a swab.. kind of like a Q-Tip. All you have to do is swab the inside of your cheek for a couple of seconds and then it's done. You can send it off and you may be called saying that you're a match. What does that mean when you are a match to another person(A Leukemia Patient)? That means YOU could save their life.
A lot of people think that you have to go through incredible pain to help during these types of programs to help a cancer patient, but you do not. The pain is very minimal. Have you ever got punched in the hip? That is the pain you'd feel. The feel of a slight punch in the hip. That feeling would only last 2-3 days if that. What id like to ask is can you wage the that feeling of pain over saving someone's life?
You could save someone. You may not know that person, but if you've had a family member dealing with this horrible disease and you've wished you could help them.. this may not help them directly, but it is saving a life. Foundations like this are begging people to come forward - to be brave and be a hero! This would mean so much to me if you would sign up to "Be The Match".
There are so many people out there who are out of remission.. including me. There are some people who are medication resistant who cannot take chemo because it no longer works and are waiting for people like you to step up and save them. There are so many people that will die this year of my horrible disease as well as other types of Leukemia because they will not find a donor.
Here is the link to "Be The Match"!
Go to https://bethematch.org/
Here is one of my fellow fighters on Good Mythical Morning I've recently watched who has the exact same cancer type as I. He is medication resistant and they will show the process in which you would go through when you receive the kit.
Here is the link to the American Cancer Society so you can do research and find out things you can do for your loved one with cancer or what you can do in general for those who are going through this rough time.
American Cancer Society: https://www.cancer.org/
Id like to thank you all AGAIN who've sent kind words, prayers, and thoughts my way through this hard time in my life. It's meant SOOO much to me. You have no idea. Thank you for listening and reading my post. Thank you for letting me rant to you all on occasion.
There will be upcoming blog posts very soon and I can't wait to get back into letting you know what I think of products. Thank you for being patient.
Much love and appreciation, Sarah
